By a 22-3 vote the Hawaii Senate May 7 approved House Concurrent Resolution 100 which designates September 24, 2009 as Islam Day. The State House had quietly approved the measure without dissent March 17.

Introduced March 4 as HCR100 by Reps Faye Hanohano (D-Puna), Lyla Berg (D-Hawai`i Ka`i), and Della Au Belatti (D-Makiki) HCR100 proposed Islam Day to be “November 21, 2009, marks the anniversary of the founding of Islam….” But that was soon amended to HCR100HD1 which intones, “the Prophet Mohammad left his house to migrate to Madinah and reached Quba in the vicinity of Madinah on the 12th day of Rabi ul-Awwal according to the lunar calendar, or September 24thaccording to the Gregorian calendar, thereby marking the birth of Islam….” (Emphasis added)

This is false. September 24th is the date of Mohammad’s arrival in Medina according to the old Julian calendar -- which is 13 daysbehind the modern Gregorian calendar. The fact that “Gregorian” is mentioned in the resolution implies that somebody was considering the two calendars.

Had the Hawaii legislature intended to mark the Julian date September 24 they would have picked the Gregorian date October 7, 2009 for Islam Day. Had they wished to mark the date celebrated each year by Muslims, that would have been the “12th day of Rabi ul-Awwal” -- March 9, 2009.

But instead they picked the modern Gregorian date September 24, 2009. This day corresponds to no holiday in the Islamic calendar. But on the Julian calendar it is September 11, 2009.

(EDITOR'S NOTE May 15: Readers have suggested one more possibility. Had they intended to mark the Gregorian equivalent of the Julian date September 24, 622 the Legislators would have chosen the Gregorian date September 27, 622. This in turn raises an interesting point.

The resolution falsely ties "the 12th of Rabi ul awwal" to a rather insignificant event on Mohammad's trek or "Hijra" from Mecca to Medina--the day Mohammad "reached Quba in the vicinity of Madinah". In fact "the 12th of Rabi ul awwal" is tied to an event four days later--the arrival of Mohammad in Medina proper to attend prayers. But even the Julian date Sept 20, 622 when Mohammad "reached Quba" falls on the Gregorian date September 23, 622. Close, but no cigar.

So, no matter how you slice it, the Hawaii Legislature has been tricked into celebrating a date which means absolutely nothing on the Islamic calendar but corresponds to September 11, 2009 on the old Julian calendar. Those who are befuddled by this need to learn what al-Taqiyya means and they need to learn it now.)